About Time
by highfunctioningsociopath221B
Summary: You had almost given up any hope of being saved from your boring life. That was, until the boy you'd been waiting for took you away.


You sat curled up in a ball on the floor. This was it, you were alone and boy could you feel it. The music pouring from your headphones was deafening but you could hardly hear it. Your thoughts were somewhere else, with someone else, a smile played on your lips. The loneliness was your soul mate. Your eyes were clenched shut and even though every hair on your body stood you refused to open them. The moment you did, you knew, reality would come flooding back in. If you opened your eyes the carpet beneath your legs would return, the light overhead would be too bright. You kept them shut and held on to the fading fantasies of adventure. Nothing lasts forever, though, and eventually you opened your eyes as a single tear fell. This had been the closest you'd come in a long time. You could still feel a breeze on your arms.

Sighing, you stood up and turned to the door that was now ajar. A chill ran down your spine but you welcomed it. This was the closest thing to feeling you had. _Fear. _When a boy stepped out from behind the door you nearly laughed, this was too perfect.

"Are you here to save me? You are; you're going to take me away from here!" You're voice was even but you were beaming at the boy. He didn't look a bit surprised.

"It looks like you're ready. Let's go," he said reaching for your hand. The boy was oddly familiar, like you had seen him in a dream. Of course, that's exactly where you'd seen him. He'd been waiting on the outskirts of your vision for years; hiding just beyond your line of sight. Every once in a while you'd seen him smiling and watching. There was nothing dangerous about this boy. He was like an old friend.

You simply took his hand and let him lead you out of the room and towards your front door. He was wearing simply clothes, a cloak and worn, handmade boots. You, on the hand, wore Soffee shorts and your sports t-shirt along with sneakers. As you walked out the door you could feel the December air nip at your skin and send goose bumps across your arms. The two of you stood just outside the door looking up, beyond this silly neighborhood with its petty inhabitants. The darkness was ripped apart by headlights that entered the cul de sac. Your father's pickup truck pulled into the house and you began to panic. The boy gave you one look that asked the only question. _Are you sure?_

You looked from your dad's shocked face through the windshield to the boy's hand that comfortingly held your own. The smile returned to your face and you nodded to the boy. He smiled an honest smile, a smile you had been dying to see. This was right.

"Jump," he whispered. You closed your eyes and leapt off the porch with no intention of landing. You weren't at all surprised when you continued to rise into the air, feeling an electricity run between your linked fingers. A single look back to your dad told you everything you needed to know; he wasn't angry or confused, rather he was smiling. A tear began to slide down your cheek as you waved a last goodbye to him. He returned it and you could feel him watching you as you flew farther and farther away.

Flying was natural to you, like you'd been born to do it. You released the boy's hand and began turning and flipping through the sky. You flew high into the air and rocketed back down laughing at the adrenaline rushing through your body. The boy was laughing with you. As you two raced and played across the stars and through the light of the moon you almost forgot that there was a destination.

The darkness faded through oranges and reds into a perfect blue sky that revealed an island beneath you. An endless ocean surrounded it and you briefly wondered when the lights on Earth had left you. The thought was quickly forgotten when you breathed your first breath of clean and unpolluted air. A gap in your lungs you had never noticed was filled leaving you feeling lighter and happier than ever. You belonged here. You had lived here before, in your dreams and thoughts. This was the place you took refuge during those dark, dark nights that scared you more than anything. You had returned to your safe haven. This was right.

"Duck!" The boy shouted. He pushed you away just before a loud blast shook the very air around you. A canon ball hurtled through the space you had just been. Looking to the source, you saw a picture perfect ship upon which stood a cluster of burly men. A smile covered your face.

"Well, come on then! Let's give them a run for their money!" The boy said as he flew down to the ship. You followed close behind, racing him to the deck. You landed right behind him mere feet from the pirates in tattered pants and shirts. One man wearing tight pants and a puffy white shirt tucked into them stepped forward. When you saw a hook replacing his left hand you nearly laughed.

"Is something funny, girl?" He asked. All you could do was look at the boy with disbelief.

"Let's go," you whispered to him still grinning wildly. You grabbed his hand and jumped from the ship onto the beach. The two of you sprinted into the jungle laughing and shoving each other playfully. With a look back you saw the pirates only fifteen feet behind.

"Don't stop!" He yelled between chuckles as he pushed you forward. You jumped over roots and ducked beneath low hanging branches, weaving between trees trying to lose the pirates but more importantly racing the boy. The smile never left your face. You had been craving this feeling of danger and thrill your entire life. The emptiness that had been eating you alive for years was finally filled by the need to keep running. Nothing felt better than this moment. You felt like you could keep running forever and never slow down.

"Left!" The boy quickly cut across your path and you veered left. You kept running with him by our side until you reached a cliff. Preparing to jump off the edge and soar to safety you bended your legs.

"Not this time," he said pulling you back. You looked at him quizzically as you heard the gang of merry murderers barrel through the trees. He gave you a wild grin that filled you with excitement and followed him into the middle of the overhanging. Soon you were surrounded. Guns and swords were aimed at you from every side and your chest heaved up and down still recovering from the run. Your hands were tightly entwined with the boy's and you almost forgot to be afraid.

"Gotcha," said a grown up voice. "What, no flying away?" The boy shrugged.

"No need to," was all he said. A nervous look flashed across the captain's face.

"You boys never could hold your own," he sneered, "Always had to bring help." The boy tilted his head to the side like he didn't understand.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," he taunted. The captain radiated frustration but the pirates' weapons didn't drop an inch. "There is no back up. Not this time, dear Captain. No, we don't need to fly away because you're going to let us go."

"You misjudge me, boy." The men took a step towards us tightening the circle. I stepped closer to my companion, growing nervous. He didn't waver, though.

"Do I?" He challenged.

"Peter, what are you doing?" I asked through my teeth. Both the captain and the boy laughed at me as though I had asked the silliest question ever.

"You're going to let us go because you value the lives of your crew. You and I both know they stand no chance against me," he said confidently. The captain scoffed at him.

"Oh, really? Prove it." In that moment several things happened at once. The boy pulled me down to the ground just before several guns clicked in an anticlimax. A look of shock was plastered on the face of pirates holding guns. The ones with swords, however, quickly thrust down at us snagging my shirt. The boy dragged me out of the circle and helped me up brushing himself off.

"Water isn't good for gunpowder, boys," he said cockily. The pirates holding swords took menacing steps towards us but the captain called them off.

"See, we win," he whispered to me. The smile returned to my face. "Until next time, Captain," he said bowing low and mockingly.

"Don't think you can run forever, girl!" The captain shouted after us as we ran into the jungle. He heart was racing and my hands were shaking but I couldn't stop the laugh from escaping my lips.

"Where are we going now?" I asked as we slowed to a walk. I was the same height as the boy, if not a tiny bit taller. He threw an arm lazily over my shoulder.

"Now," he began grinning at me, "Now you meet the rest of the group. We must get one thing straight though." He was trying not to smile.

"What? Have I done something wrong?" I became nervous and played through everything I had said before.

"No, but make sure Pan doesn't hear you call me 'Peter' again," the boy said smiling. My heart suddenly stopped as did I.

"Wh-who are you?"

"My name's James, James Darling."


End file.
